Venetian blind



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July s, 1958 H, J, SCHULTZ 2,842,196

VENETIAN BLIND Filed Nov. 14, 1955 IJZE' I I I INVENTOR.

By km Mk/Mi design.

United States Patent VENETIAN BLIND Henry .I. Schultz, Hayward, Calif., assignor to Brooks Walker Application November 14, 1955, Serial No. 546,420

4 Claims. (Cl. 160-173) This invention pertains to improvements in Venetian blind lift cord locks. Hitherto, lift cord locks have been formed out of die cast metal or stampings and generally involve a roller, wedge or dog which engages the lift cord when it is moved in one direction and is allowed to move backwards to lower the blind a short distance, and while such structures work well they are much more expensive than the cord lock of this invention.

My invention is a very simple type of cord lock formed from two pieces of bent wire. One piece of wire forms the support for the cord lock and the turning means for changing the direction of the lift cord from the horizontal position where it moves from the position near the top of the ladder tapes to the cord lock position and then vertically downward to the operator. The other portion of the cord lock is a piece of wire bent into a preformed There is no waste material in this device as there is no trimming from the bent wire, similar to the waste in stamping out cord locks from sheet material, and it is far less expensive to manufacture than die cast material and the dies for bending the wire are less expensive than the dies for stamping sheet material or the dies for forming die-cast material.

The two pieces of wire, bent as specified, form a cord turn and a cord lock which is exceedingly effective on all types of cords whether plastic, nylon, or cotton. A simple motion of the lift cord from the right to the left determines whether or not the cord lock is freerunning so that the blind can be readily raised or lowered or whether the cord lock locks to hold the blind in any desired raised position. The pieces of wire forming the cord lock may be made of rust-proof, plated, or painted material which is suitable for not staining or discoloring the lift cords and for being rust-proof. The mechanism is very easy to assemble, and it is very easy to string the cords in case of original assembly or replacement, it is free from rivets and other assembly devices involving labor and reduces the cord lock and cord turn to two pieces each composed of a formed wire.

Other features of the invention will be more particularly pointed out in the accompanying specifications and claims.

I have illustrated my invention in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation view of a portion of a blind Fig. 4 is a reduced scale view of a complete Venetian Fatented July 8, 1958 ice In Fig. 4 I have shown a Venetian blind with slats 5, ladder tapes 7, tilt cords 8, combined tilt rod and head member 6, and lift cords 12 and 12a. A bracket 10 has looped ends 10b that engage over the tilt rod 6, and is provided with a center loop 10a depending therefrom, the loops 10b arespaced to hang at eitherside of the ladder tapes 7 which are supported on a rubberlike bushings 6a, Figs. 1 and 2, that holds bracket 10 in longitudinal position on rod 6. The subject matter of bracket 10 will be covered in a separate application.

The cord lock is formed as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 by two wire members 15 and 20 which cooperate with each other when the lift cords 12 and 12a are properly threaded therethrough to clamp the lift cord therebetween. Wire member 15 supports a bight of the lift cord and has a loop 15a that goes around or partly around the tilt rod 6 at the left end of the wire member 15, as viewed in Figs. 1, 2 and 4. This loop 15a-forms a support for the left end of wire member 15. Near the other end of the wire member'lS there is a loop or partial loop 15b which forms the other support for wire member 15 on the tilt rod 6. A looped portion at the right hand end of the wire member 15, as seen in Fig. 1, extends under the lift cords 12 and 12a and supports said lift cords. 12 and 12a and cord lock member 20. Between the loops 15a, 15b there is a straight portion 15d. The portion 150 may be inclined as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 or it may be substantially vertical.

Cord lock member 20 has a looped end 20c through which lift cords 12 and 12a are fed and a hump 20b formed near the center thereof by the inturned end of the wire. The cord lock member 20 is formed by bending a heavy wire into spaced loops 20a and 20c by'turning the ends 20b and 20a in toward a straight portion 20d so that the looped portions 201: and 20c lie substantially in a plane. The hump 20b is formed by elevating the end of the wire slightly above the general plane of the lock member, and the outer end of the loop and through the loop 10a.

as viewed in Figs. 1, 2 and 4 and a force is applied bypulling on the lift cord, so that hump 20b engages the loop 150 and in this position lift cords 12 and 12a pass: freely under the raised portion 20a, around the inside lower curve of portion 15c, and out through the loop 200 of cord lock member 20.- When it is desired to have cord lock member 20 clamp the cord, lift cords 12 and 12a are moved to the left, as viewed in Figs. 1, 2 and 4 and subjected to the force of the weight of the blind, so that the hump 20b passes under the loop 15c. This movement causes the cord lock member 20 to move toward the left, as viewed in Fig. '2. In this position the lift cords 12 and 12a pass through loop 200 and over the hump 20b which causes sufiicient friction to move the cord lock member to the left, as viewed in Fig. 2, so that the lock member 20 rides along the loop 15c, the hump 20b riding under the loop 150 and the raised portion of loop 20a clamps the lift cords 12 and 12a against the loop 150. This forms a very positive lock and is readily freed by moving the lift cords to the right, as seen in Figs. 1 and 4, and pulling on them slightly, when so moving so that the lift cord lock assumes the position shown in Fig. 1 and the cords 12 and 12a pass freely in either direction of lifting or lowering of the blind.

The loop portion of the lock including 20a, 20b, and 20d straddles the lower portion or bight of the loop 150 when moving from the position of Fig. 1 to the position of Fig. 2. From the foregoing, it will be seen that the two pieces of formed wire forming the support and the positioning end of the cord lock are exceedingly simple to make, inexpensive, and offer a minimum of abrading or damage to the lift cords, so that the lift cords should have long life. In assembly, both as original equipment and as replacement, lift cords 12 and 12a are threaded through hole or loop 20; of cord lock 20, and over the hump 20a at a place Where it is easy to thread the lift cords, in a manner similar to threading equalizers in Venetian blinds, and then the lift cords and cord lock 20 are inserted over the free end of the loop 15c of the wire member 15, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 4. The extreme simplicity, cheapness, and positiveness of operation of this cord lock is believed to offer great economy and simplicity of manufacture and service, and have great utility in the industry.

Other feautres of the invention will be more particularly pointed out in the accompanying claims.

To those skilled in the art to which this invention relates, many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The disclosures and they description herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting.

I claim as my invention:

1. A Venetian blind having slats, tilt cords, lift cords and a tilt rod, a cord lock for the lift cords, said cord lock including a bar having a pair of loops extending upwardly adjacent either end thereof and adapted to engage over the tilt rod and having a depending loop at one end thereof over which a lift cord passes, a clamping link engageable with said depending loop, said clamping link comprising a second bar having a straight portion and having the outer free ends thereof bent to form spaced terminal loops lying substantially in a plane, portions of one of the terminal loops being elevated slightly above the general plane of the clamping link, the lift cords passing upwardly through said last mentioned terminal loop and over an elevated portion and downwardly through said other terminal loop.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 wherein a lift cord is passed upwardly through the loop having an elevated portion, through the depending loop, over another elevated portion of the second bar and downwardly through the other loop, whereby force applied in one direction causes the elevated loop portion to engage the cord passing through the depending loop to clamp said cord against said depending loop, and force applied in the opposite dircction frees the cord for lifting and lowering operation.

3. A Venetian blind having lift cords, slats and a head member, a loop depending from the head member and over which the lift cord passes, a lift cord clamping link engageable with the depending loop, said clamping link comprising a bar having a straight portion and having the outer free ends thereof bent to form spaced terminal loops lying substantially in a plane, portions of one of the terminal loops being elevated slightly above the general plane of the clamping link, the lift cords passing upwardly through said last mentioned terminal loop and over an elevated portion and downwardly through said other terminal loop.

4. A Venetian blind having lift cords, slats and a head member, a loop depending from the head member over which said lift cord passes, a lift cord clamping link, said lift cord clamping link having a straight portion and two cord tight enclosures, one at each end of said straight portion, said cords passing up through a first enclosure then over said loop that depends from said head member and down through said other cord tight enclosure in said link to support said link by said lift cords, said link clamping said cord between itself and said loop in one direction of lift cord pull to form a cord lock.

Moore June 6, 1922 Carroll Oct. 13, 1936 

